Two years and two months ago, Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum were ready to play pay-per-view with the UFC middleweight crown up for grabs.
The two of them vacated 234 the day before UFC Whittaker’s hometown of Sydney, Australia, weighed in at 185 pounds. The champion was ready for his first official undisputed title defense in friendly territory. Nothing seemed wrong to the outside world.
« Everything was normal until after the weigh-in, and then I got really bad abdominal pain and vomited, » Whittaker told the Post on Tuesday by phone. « I couldn’t hold anything back. Couldn’t hold the water. Had to get the doctor and, you know, rush to the hospital. »
Whittaker called the disease « a freak accident » that had nothing to do with weight loss. Even the doctors couldn’t find a cause and Whittaker was diagnosed with a so-called twisted bowel.
Fast forward to today, when Whittaker (22-5, 14) and Gastelum (16-6, 10) are at one The two are slated to headline again in the middleweight division, this time at UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday on a UFC Fight Night show airing on ESPN. But Whittaker isn’t holding the belt more in hand, and Gastelum appears to have a long way to go before scoring a title shot against Israel Adesanya, who defeated both men later in 2019 and has dominated the division since then.
Seemed like a rescheduled matchup between the two unlikely this year. Whittaker has had two decisive wins in 2020 against esteemed rivals Darren Till and Jared Cannonier since losing to Adesanya in the second round. Gastelum hadn’t won a fight since Whittaker’s sudden hospitalization and lost to Adesanya in a classic five-round race for the subtitle, followed by a loss to Till and a quick loss to Submission from Jack Hermansson.
Finally Gastelum was able to stem the bleeding of his first professional defeat in three fights with a decisive victory over Ian Heinisch on February 13, just over two years after the title fight, which never existed. And when Whittaker’s original opponent, youngest title challenger Paulo Costa, resigned in mid-March, Gastelum was in the right place at the right time to win the fight Whittaker is committed to fulfilling.
Despite Gastelum’s difficult path since the UFC 234 Whittaker is aware of the strength of the timetable his opponent has faced over the past 24 months.
« That’s the problem with fighting the best in the world: there is so little room for error and everyone is one Killer, « said Whittaker.
The New Zealand-born Australian, who represents both nations, couldn’t even get upset about Gastelum’s behavior on the night of the first booking. Gastelum stumbled from some distance from the cage while witnessing the action – middleweight legend Anderson Silva’s clash with an aspiring Adesanya was promoted to main event status in a matter of hours, with Adesanya winning – borrowing Henry Cejudo’s flyweight championship belt as a prop and himself a self-proclaimed champion to appoint middleweight.
Some fighters might describe this act as sacrilege. The subsequent three-way skid could draw the dreaded “curse” label. But for Whittaker the attitude was just « silly ». Everything is old history to him.
Instead, Whittaker is looking forward to reclaiming the award Adesanya demanded of him in October 2019. There is no real, clear challenger in the current middleweight division. Whittaker remains a top contender by many and a third straight win could cement his case for a rematch. The majority of the UFC’s top fighters at 185 pounds have either already lost to Adesanya or have recently been beaten by those who have also lost to Adesanya.
A win against 29-year-old Gastelum, who despite his fights in If the division continues to be respected, Whittaker could push Whittaker back to The Last Stylebender and his championship gold over the top in the race.
« I’m one of the bosses in this division, » says 30-year-old Whittaker. « I run this department and I’m here to stay. I’m a dangerous fight for everyone.
» … But I just do my thing, go around, be « The Reaper » and just go around, around End people. «
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